Oldham 2-2 Forest

Nottingham Forest were held to a 2-2 draw against Oldham Athletic in a pre-season friendly at Boundary Park.

A Matty Cash goal gave The Reds an early lead before The Latics hit back to take the lead at the beginning of the second half.

Lewis Grabban pulled Forest level in the closing stages as Aitor Karanka's men continued to build towards the start of the season.

It didn't take The Reds long to make their mark on the game as Cash found the back of the net on three minutes. The winger met Jack Robinson's cross from the left at the back post and fired an effort into the corner of the net past the trialist goalkeeper.

Forest looked a threat every time they went forward as Hillal Soudani had a great chance to double the lead on eight minutes. The Algerian stole the ball from an Oldham defender and raced through on goal, but the keeper did well to parry his effort around the post.

An acrobatic effort from Soudani drifted wide on ten minutes before Cash pulled a shot wide from 25 yards as the second goal looked on its way.

But the Forest rearguard still had to be alert, as on 13 minutes The Latics' had a chance to draw level as George Edmundson met a free kick in the middle, only for Costel Pantilimon to gather on the goal line.

On 28 minutes a free-flowing move almost resulted in the second goal as Soudani and Lewis Grabban linked up to find Cash on the right-hand side. The pass to him was a bit short, meaning he had to cut inside and could only muster a left-footed shot off target.

Two minutes later and Joe Lolley was next to have an attempt on goal as he showed good footwork in the area but was denied by a smart low save by the keeper.

After the break, The Reds were slow to come out of the blocks and on 48 minutes the home side were level as a trialist broke into the box and curled an effort past Pantilimon and into the far corner.

Oldham looked a different side completely and forced a couple of half-chances before taking the lead on 58. A corner from the left was swung into the area and centre back Edmundson rose highest to head into the top corner.

Jordan Smith, on to replace Pantilimon in goal, launched a superb counter attack with a long throw on 68 as Forest looked to get back on level terms. Soudani controlled the ball to take it past his man on halfway and raced towards goal, teeing up Lolley who was quickly crowded out on the edge of the box and the chance went begging.

A host of subs came on for The Reds for the final 15 minutes and Diogo Gonçalves teed up João Carvalho inside the box, but he could only lift a shot over the crossbar, but Carvalho produced a great bit of play to create the chance which drew Forest level.

The Portuguese nutmegged his man and scooped a great pass across goal for Grabban to arrive onto and volley home from six yards out as Karanka's men levelled things up with three minutes to go.

Gil Dias was then the orchestrator as Forest went in search of the winning goal, teeing up Thomas Lam on the edge of the box for a shot which flew narrowly over with what was virtually the last kick of the game in a well-contested friendly at Boundary Park.